Electromagnetic field induced msr swipes detection

ABSTRACT

A payment terminal including a magnetic card reader, a decoder receiving analog signals from the magnetic card reader and providing a digital data output to utilization circuitry and data integrity assurance circuitry operative to eliminate spurious data due to Electromagnetic Field (EMF) interference.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Reference is made to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/994,951, filed Sep. 20, 2007 and entitled “Electromagnetic FieldInduced MSR Swipes Detection,” the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference and priority of which is hereby claimedpursuant to 37 CFR 1.78(a) (4) and (5)(i).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to payment devices employing magnetic cardreaders.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Magnetic card readers are employed widely in various applications,including payment devices, including, for example, POS terminals,electronic cash registers and ATMs. Traditionally, there has been aconcern with data integrity of such devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide improved payment devicesincluding such magnetic card readers.

There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a payment terminal including a magnetic card reader, adecoder receiving analog signals from the magnetic card reader andproviding a digital data output to utilization circuitry and dataintegrity assurance circuitry operative to eliminate spurious data dueto Electromagnetic Field (EMF) interference.

Preferably, the data integrity assurance circuitry includes dataintegrity verification circuitry receiving the digital data output fromthe decoder, verifying the integrity of the data output and providing averified data output to the utilization circuitry.

Preferably, the data integrity assurance circuitry is embodied in aprocessor employed in an operating system of the payment terminal.

There is also provided in accordance with another preferred embodimentof the present invention a method of operating a payment terminalincluding a magnetic card reader and a decoder, receiving analog signalsfrom the magnetic card reader and providing a digital data output toutilization circuitry, the method including at least generallypreventing spurious data due to Electromagnetic Field (EMF) interferencefrom reaching the utilization circuitry.

There is further provided in accordance with still another preferredembodiment of the present invention a method of operating a paymentterminal including a magnetic card reader and a decoder, receivinganalog signals from the magnetic card reader and providing a digitaldata output, the method including receiving the digital data output,verifying the integrity of the data output and providing a verified dataoutput to utilization circuitry, thereby to eliminate spurious data dueto Electromagnetic Field (EMF) interference.

Preferably, the verifying employs a processor also employed in anoperating system of the payment terminal. Additionally or alternatively,the verifying is carried out by software including at least onealgorithm which rejects digital data having predeterminedcharacteristics.

Preferably, the software is operative for detecting false swipe reportsbased both on the frequency of the reports and the content thereof.Additionally, the software operative for detecting false swipe reportsincludes at least one of the following detection criteria: a. there aremore than three card swipe reports within approximately 70 ms, b. morethan a predetermined number of consecutive card swipe reports areconsidered not to contain any data; inasmuch as they either provide datahaving less than three characters on each of the three tracks or have aninitial 0 and c. a card swipe report indicates no data on each of thethree tracks and the preceding card swipe report fulfilled either ofcriteria a or b above.

There is even further provided in accordance with yet another preferredembodiment of the present invention a payment terminal including amagnetic card reader, a decoder receiving analog signals from themagnetic card reader and providing a digital data output, at least onemagnetic card presence sensor and card presence responsive dataintegrity verification circuitry responsive to the presence or absenceof an output from the at least one magnetic card presence sensor forconfirming the occurrence of a card swipe and being operative toeliminate spurious data in the absence of a sensed card swipeoccurrence.

Preferably, the card presence responsive data integrity verificationcircuitry is operative to disable operation of the decoder in theabsence of a sensed card swipe occurrence. Preferably, the at least onemagnetic card presence sensor includes at least one optical sensordisposed at at least one end of a card swipe pathway defined in themagnetic card reader and wherein the card presence responsive dataintegrity verification circuitry is operative to enable operation of thedecoder only when at least one of the at least one optical sensor sensespresence of a card.

Preferably, the at least one magnetic card presence sensor includes apair of optical sensors disposed at opposite ends of a card swipepathway defined in the magnetic card reader and wherein the cardpresence responsive data integrity verification circuitry is operativeto enable operation of the decoder only when at least one of the pair ofoptical sensors senses presence of a card.

Preferably, the payment terminal also includes data integrity assurancecircuitry including software operative to eliminate spurious data due toEMF interference. Additionally, the data integrity assurance circuitryis embodied in a processor employed in an operating system of thepayment terminal.

Preferably, the payment terminal also includes data integrityverification circuitry including software including at least onealgorithm which rejects digital data having predeterminedcharacteristics. Additionally, the software including at least onealgorithm which rejects digital data having predeterminedcharacteristics includes software operative for detecting false swipereports based both on the frequency of the reports and the contentthereof. Additionally, the software operative for detecting false swipereports includes at least one of the following detection criteria: a.there are more than three card swipe reports within approximately 70 ms,b. more than a predetermined number of consecutive card swipe reportsare considered not to contain any data, inasmuch as they either providedata having less than three characters on each of the three tracks orhave an initial 0 and c. a card swipe report indicates no data on eachof the three tracks and the preceding card swipe report fulfilled eitherof criteria a or b above.

There is yet further provided in accordance with another preferredembodiment of the present invention a payment terminal including amagnetic card reader, a decoder receiving analog signals from themagnetic card reader and providing a digital data output to utilizationcircuitry and data integrity assurance circuitry including softwareoperative to eliminate spurious data due to Electromagnetic Field (EMF)interference.

Preferably, the data integrity assurance circuitry is embodied in aprocessor employed in an operating system of the payment terminal.

Preferably, the data integrity assurance circuitry includes dataintegrity verification circuitry receiving the digital data output fromthe decoder, verifying the integrity of the data output and providing averified data output to the utilization circuitry. Additionally, thedata integrity verification circuitry includes software including atleast one algorithm which rejects digital data having predeterminedcharacteristics.

Preferably, the software in the data integrity verification circuitryincludes software operative for detecting false swipe reports based bothon the frequency of the reports and the content thereof. Additionally,the software operative for detecting false swipe reports includes atleast one of the following detection criteria: a. there are more thanthree card swipe reports within approximately 70 ms, b. more than apredetermined number of consecutive card swipe reports are considerednot to contain any data; inasmuch as they either provide data havingless than three characters on each of the three tracks or have aninitial 0 and c. a card swipe report indicates no data on each of thethree tracks and the preceding card swipe report fulfilled either ofcriteria a or b above.

There is also provided in accordance with still another preferredembodiment of the present invention a method of operating a paymentterminal including a magnetic card reader and a decoder, receivinganalog signals from the magnetic card reader and providing a digitaldata output to utilization circuitry, the method including employingsoftware to at least generally prevent spurious data due toElectromagnetic Field (EMF) interference from reaching the utilizationcircuitry.

There is further provided in accordance with yet another preferredembodiment of the present invention a method of operating a paymentterminal including a magnetic card reader and a decoder, receivinganalog signals from the magnetic card reader and providing a digitaldata output, the method including receiving the digital data output, andemploying software for verifying the integrity of the data output andproviding a verified data output to utilization circuitry, thereby toeliminate spurious data due to Electromagnetic Field (EMF) interference.

Preferably, the verifying employs a processor also employed in anoperating system of the payment terminal. Preferably, the software forverifying includes at least one algorithm which rejects digital datahaving predetermined characteristics. Additionally, the software forverifying is operative to detect false swipe reports based both on thefrequency of the reports and the content thereof. Additionally, thesoftware for verifying includes at least one of the following detectioncriteria: a. there are more than three card swipe reports withinapproximately 70 ms, b. more than a predetermined number of consecutivecard swipe reports are considered not to contain any data; inasmuch asthey either provide data having less than three characters on each ofthe three tracks or have an initial 0 and c. a card swipe reportindicates no data on each of the three tracks and the preceding cardswipe report fulfilled either of criteria a or b above.

There is still further provided in accordance with another preferredembodiment of the present invention a method of operating a paymentterminal including a magnetic card reader, a decoder receiving analogsignals from the magnetic card reader and providing a digital dataoutput, at least one magnetic card presence sensor and card presenceresponsive data integrity verification circuitry responsive to thepresence or absence of an output from the at least one magnetic cardpresence sensor for confirming the occurrence of a card swipe and beingoperative to eliminate spurious data in the absence of a sensed cardswipe occurrence, the method including employing software to at leastgenerally prevent spurious data due to Electromagnetic Field (EMF)interference from reaching utilization circuitry.

Preferably, the software includes at least one of the followingdetection criteria for false swipes: a. there are more than three cardswipe reports within approximately 70 ms, b. more than a predeterminednumber of consecutive card swipe reports are considered not to containany data; inasmuch as they either provide data having less than threecharacters on each of the three tracks or have an initial 0 and c. acard swipe report indicates no data on each of the three tracks and thepreceding card swipe report fulfilled either of criteria a or b above.

There is yet further provided in accordance with yet another preferredembodiment of the present invention a method of operating a paymentterminal including a magnetic card reader, a decoder receiving analogsignals from the magnetic card reader and providing a digital dataoutput, at least one magnetic card presence sensor and card presenceresponsive data integrity verification circuitry responsive to thepresence or absence of an output from the at least one magnetic cardpresence sensor for confirming the occurrence of a card swipe and beingoperative to eliminate spurious data in the absence of a sensed cardswipe occurrence, the method including receiving the digital dataoutput, and employing software for verifying the integrity of the dataoutput and providing a verified data output to utilization circuitry,thereby to eliminate spurious data due to Electromagnetic Field (EMF)interference.

Preferably, the verifying employs a processor also employed in anoperating system of the payment terminal.

Preferably, the software includes at least one algorithm which rejectsdigital data having predetermined characteristics. Additionally, thesoftware is operative for detecting false swipe reports based both onthe frequency of the reports and the content thereof. Additionally, thesoftware includes at least one of the following detection criteria forfalse swipes: a. there are more than three card swipe reports withinapproximately 70 ms; b. more than a predetermined number of consecutivecard swipe reports are considered not to contain any data; inasmuch asthey either provide data having less than three characters on each ofthe three tracks or have an initial 0 and c. a card swipe reportindicates no data on each of the three tracks and the preceding cardswipe report fulfilled either of criteria a or b above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully fromthe following detailed description, taken in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified illustration of a payment terminal constructedand operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a simplified partially pictorial, partially schematicillustration of a portion of the payment terminal constructed andoperative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 3 is a simplified schematic illustration of circuitry employed inone preferred embodiment of the payment terminal of FIGS. 1 and 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which illustrates a payment terminalconstructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. As seen in FIG. 1, the payment terminal may begenerally similar in structure and function to a conventional paymentterminal, such as a payment terminal belonging to the MX 800 series,commercially available from Verifone, Inc. It is appreciated that thepresent invention is not limited in its application to a given type ormodel of payment terminal but is applicable to magnetic stripe readingdevices useful in any suitable payment device. Such a payment device mayinclude, for example, a check reader, a card-based payment terminal, anelectronic cash register, a PIN pad, an automatic teller machine (ATM),an automated kiosk and an electronic vending machine. The presentinvention may be particularly useful in wireless payment devices but isnot limited thereto.

As seen in FIG. 1, the payment terminal preferably includes a housing100 including a base portion 102 and a top portion 104, which aretypically snap-fitted together. In the illustrated embodiment, thehousing also includes a printer housing portion 106. The top portion 104of housing 100 preferably defines a smart-card insertion slot 108, whichcommunicates with a smart-card reader (not shown) located within thehousing. The top portion 104 of the housing 100 also defines a keypadarray location 112 wherein an array of keys 113 are located, and adisplay location 114, where a display, such as an LCD display 116, islocated. Additionally, the top portion 104 of housing 100 preferablydefines a magnetic card reader assembly 118, which includes a slot 120having spaced surfaces 122 and 124. A magnetic head assembly 130 ismounted on surface 122, typically on an inside wall of surface 122.

An output of magnetic head assembly 130 preferably is supplied via acable 132 and a connector 134 to a decoder 136, having associatedtherewith data integrity assurance circuitry 138. Connector 134, decoder136 and data integrity assurance circuitry 138 are preferably allenclosed within a protected enclosure 140, such as that described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,853,093, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedby reference. Preferably utilization circuitry 142, which, inter alia,receives data via decoder 136, is also enclosed within protectedenclosure 140.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the magneticcard reader assembly 118, cable 132 and connector 134 may be constructedand operative in accordance with one or more of assignee's U.S. patentapplications U.S. Ser. No. 11/636,369, filed on Dec. 8, 2006; U.S. Ser.No. 11/627,166, filed on Jan. 25, 2007; U.S. Ser. No. 11/766,457, filedon Jun. 21, 2007 and U.S. Ser. No. 11/856,460, filed on Sep. 17, 2007,the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which is a simplified partiallypictorial, partially schematic illustration of a portion of the paymentterminal constructed and operative in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention. As seen in FIG. 2, magnetic headassembly 130 reads information on a magnetic card 200, whose presence ator propinquity to magnetic head assembly 130 is sensed by one or both ofcard presence sensors 202 and 204, preferably phototransistors.

Decoder 136 receives analog signals from magnetic head assembly 130 andprovides a digital data output.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, dataintegrity assurance circuitry 138 is provided in order to eliminatespurious digital data due to Electromagnetic Field (EMF) interference.

In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, the dataintegrity assurance circuitry 138 includes data integrity verificationcircuitry 210 which receives the data output of decoder 136, verifiesthe integrity of that data and provides a verified data output toutilization circuitry 142. In this embodiment, the data integrityverification circuitry 210 is embodied in software, preferably residingin an operating system of the payment terminal, within the protectedenclosure 140 (FIG. 1). The software may reside, for example, in adedicated integrated circuit, in the main processor of the paymentterminal or in any other suitable location.

In accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, whichmay or may not be provided together with the first embodiment of theinvention described in the preceding paragraph, data integrity assurancecircuitry 138 comprises card presence responsive data verificationcircuitry 212. Card presence responsive data verification circuitry 212preferably receives a card presence indication from one or both cardpresence sensors 202 and 204 when magnetic card 200 is in predeterminedpropinquity to the magnetic head assembly 130. In this embodiment, thecard presence responsive data verification circuitry 212 controls theoperation of the decoder 136 to eliminate decoding of the data bydecoder 136 other than when there is a card presence indication, thuseliminating data outputs from the decoder 136 at times when a card isnot being swiped. In this way, an enhanced integrity digital data outputis provided to utilization circuitry 142 responsive to the card presenceindication, with substantially reduced spurious data due to EMFinterference. A specific implementation of this embodiment is shown inFIG. 3.

It is appreciated that either one or both of the above-describedembodiments may be incorporated in a given payment terminal.

A DC power source 144 provides electrical power for the various activeelements in the circuitry of FIG. 2.

Turning to FIG. 3, it is seen that card presence sensors 202 and 204 areembodied in series-connected photo-sensor assemblies 312 and 313,respectively, and include respective LEDS 314 and 316 and correspondingphototransistors 318 and 320. Alternatively, suitable mechanicalswitches may be employed for card presence sensors 202 and 204. Theoutput of photo-sensor assembly 313 provides an input to a transistor322. The output of transistor 322 provides on/off gating control of anOSC input (pin 14) of decoder 136, preferably a UIC Triple Track F2FDecoder, identified by part designator MRD532A, commercially availablefrom Uniform Industrial Corp. of Taipei Hsien, Taiwan.

The photosensor assemblies 312 and 313 respond to the presence of card200 (FIG. 2) when it is inserted between LEDs 314 and 316 andcorresponding phototransistors 318 and 320. Electrical power for theLEDs 314 and 316 and the phototransistors 318 and 320 is provided by DCpower source 144 (FIG. 2) which also supplies power, as appropriate, toother components and circuits.

Shorting pin 14 of decoder 136 to ground disables the decoder 136 andinhibits any undesired response to EMF interference, which may come froman internal wireless transmitter or some other internal or externalinterfering source.

When a card 200 is not sensed by either or both of photo-sensorassemblies 312 and 313, the OSC input (pin 14) of decoder 136 isshortened to ground, thus deactivating decoder 136.

Pins 20, 21 and 4-7 of decoder 136 are connected to correspondingterminals of three separate magnetic pick-up coils forming part of themagnetic head assembly 130 (FIG. 1). Pins 15-18 of decoder 136 arearranged to be coupled to utilization circuitry 142 (FIG. 1) in thepayment device, such as a microprocessor (not shown).

It is appreciated that aside from the specific implementation foreliminating EMF interference other implementations are also possible.Alternatively, decoder 136 may also include an initialization pin, whichcould be suitably controlled to effect elimination or reduction of EMFinterference.

The operation of data integrity verification circuitry 210 which, asnoted above, receives the data output of decoder 136, verifies theintegrity of that data and provides a verified data output toutilization circuitry 142 (FIG. 1) is described hereinbelow.

Analog signals from magnetic head 130 (FIG. 2) are received by decoder136 which converts them to three tracks of digital data, stores thedigital data in an internal buffer and then clocks out the data bits.When a payment terminal is located in a relatively strong magnetic fieldproducing EMF interference, such as near a SENSORMATIC® deactivator,magnetic head 130 may receive EMF interference and may cause the decoder136 to provide a false report of a card swipe to utilization circuitry142 (FIG. 1) in the payment device, such as a microprocessor (notshown). Such false reports may occur frequently due to EMF interferenceand result in substantial inconsistency in the correctness of the datasupplied to the utilization circuitry 142.

Accordingly, the false reports supplied to the utilization circuitry 142may indicate, for example, that all three tracks of a swiped card haveno data or a very small amount of data, that some or all tracks of aswiped card contain nearly all 1's or nearly all 0's and/or that theinitial bit read out for each track by the decoder 136 is a zero insteadof a 1 and thus constitutes an invalid data stream, since the decoder isdesigned to strip off all initial zeros. The presence of an initial zeroindicates EMF interference in decoder function.

The present invention detects such false reports which result from EMFinterference by considering both the frequency of card swipe reports andthe contents thereof. To ensure that reports of actual card swipes arenot ignored or considered to result from EMF interference, the followingthree criteria for classifying a card swipe report as a false card swipereport resulting, inter alia, from EMF interference are preferred:

1) There are more than three card swipe reports within approximately 70ms; or

2) More than a predetermined number of consecutive card swipe reports(typically 3) are considered not to contain any data, inasmuch as theyeither provide data having less than three characters on each of thethree tracks or have an initial 0; or

3) A card swipe report indicates no data on each of the three tracks andthe preceding card swipe report fulfilled either of criteria 1 or 2above.

It will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to whathas been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather the scopeof the present invention includes combinations and subcombinations ofthe various features described hereinabove as well as modifications andvariations thereof which would occur to persons skilled in the art uponreading the foregoing description and which are not in the prior art.

1. A payment terminal comprising: a magnetic card reader; a decoderreceiving analog signals from said magnetic card reader and providing adigital data output to utilization circuitry; and data integrityassurance circuitry operative to eliminate spurious data due toElectromagnetic Field (EMF) interference.
 2. A payment terminalaccording to claim 1 and wherein said data integrity assurance circuitrycomprises data integrity verification circuitry receiving said digitaldata output from said decoder, verifying the integrity of said dataoutput and providing a verified data output to said utilizationcircuitry.
 3. A payment terminal according to claim 1 and wherein saiddata integrity assurance circuitry is embodied in a processor employedin an operating system of said payment terminal.
 4. A method ofoperating a payment terminal including a magnetic card reader and adecoder, receiving analog signals from said magnetic card reader andproviding a digital data output to utilization circuitry, the methodcomprising: at least generally preventing spurious data due toElectromagnetic Field (EMF) interference from reaching said utilizationcircuitry.
 5. A method of operating a payment terminal including amagnetic card reader and a decoder, receiving analog signals from saidmagnetic card reader and providing a digital data output, the methodcomprising: receiving said digital data output; verifying the integrityof said data output; and providing a verified data output to utilizationcircuitry, thereby to eliminate spurious data due to ElectromagneticField (EMF) interference.
 6. A method of operating a payment terminalaccording to claim 5 and wherein said verifying employs a processor alsoemployed in an operating system of said payment terminal.
 7. A method ofoperating a payment terminal according to claim 6 and wherein saidverifying is carried out by software including at least one algorithmwhich rejects digital data having predetermined characteristics.
 8. Amethod of operating a payment terminal according to claim 7 and whereinsaid software is operative for detecting false swipe reports based bothon the frequency of the reports and the content thereof.
 9. A method ofoperating a payment terminal according to claim 8 and wherein saidsoftware operative for detecting false swipe reports includes at leastone of the following detection criteria: a. There are more than threecard swipe reports within approximately 70 ms; b. More than apredetermined number of consecutive card swipe reports are considerednot to contain any data; inasmuch as they either provide data havingless than three characters on each of the three tracks or have aninitial 0; and c. A card swipe report indicates no data on each of thethree tracks and the preceding card swipe report fulfilled either ofcriteria a or b above.
 10. A payment terminal comprising: a magneticcard reader; a decoder receiving analog signals from said magnetic cardreader and providing a digital data output; at least one magnetic cardpresence sensor; and card presence responsive data integrityverification circuitry responsive to the presence or absence of anoutput from said at least one magnetic card presence sensor forconfirming the occurrence of a card swipe and being operative toeliminate spurious data in the absence of a sensed card swipeoccurrence.
 11. A payment terminal according to claim 10 and whereinsaid card presence responsive data integrity verification circuitry isoperative to disable operation of said decoder in the absence of asensed card swipe occurrence.
 12. A payment terminal according to claim10 and wherein said at least one magnetic card presence sensor comprisesat least one optical sensor disposed at at least one end of a card swipepathway defined in said magnetic card reader and wherein said cardpresence responsive data integrity verification circuitry is operativeto enable operation of said decoder only when at least one of said atleast one optical sensor senses presence of a card.
 13. A paymentterminal according to claim 10 and wherein said at least one magneticcard presence sensor comprises a pair of optical sensors disposed atopposite ends of a card swipe pathway defined in said magnetic cardreader and wherein said card presence responsive data integrityverification circuitry is operative to enable operation of said decoderonly when at least one of said pair of optical sensors senses presenceof a card.
 14. A payment terminal according to claim 10 and alsocomprising data integrity assurance circuitry including softwareoperative to eliminate spurious data due to EMF interference.
 15. Apayment terminal according to claim 14 and wherein said data integrityassurance circuitry is embodied in a processor employed in an operatingsystem of said payment terminal.
 16. A payment terminal according toclaim 14 and also comprising data integrity verification circuitryincluding software including at least one algorithm which rejectsdigital data having predetermined characteristics.
 17. A paymentterminal according to claim 16 and wherein said software including atleast one algorithm which rejects digital data having predeterminedcharacteristics includes software operative for detecting false swipereports based both on the frequency of the reports and the contentthereof.
 18. A payment terminal according to claim 17 and wherein saidsoftware operative for detecting false swipe reports includes at leastone of the following detection criteria: a. There are more than threecard swipe reports within approximately 70 ms; b. More than apredetermined number of consecutive card swipe reports are considerednot to contain any data, inasmuch as they either provide data havingless than three characters on each of the three tracks or have aninitial 0; and c. A card swipe report indicates no data on each of thethree tracks and the preceding card swipe report fulfilled either ofcriteria a or b above. 19-38. (canceled)